Joakim Våge Nilsen (born 24 April 1991) is a retired Norwegian

football defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

Haugesund

He made his debut for

Haugesund Haugesund () is a municipalities of Norway, municipality and List of towns and cities in Norway, town on the North Sea in Rogaland county, Norway. As of December 2023, the municipality of Haugesund has a population of 37,855. The vast majority of ...

on 5 April 2009 against

Tromsdalen or is an urban neighborhood in the Tromsø (city), city of Tromsø which is in Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. It is located just to the east of the city centre on the mainland along the coast of the Tromsøysundet strait. The v ...

at the age of 17 years. He played in all but one

Adeccoligaen The Norwegian First Division, also called 1. divisjon () and OBOS-ligaen (due to sponsoring ties with OBOS), is the second-highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Each year, the top finishing teams in the 1. divisjon are promo ...

game that season, only missing the game against Skeid through suspension after being sent off against

Nybergsund Nybergsund is a village in Trysil Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located about south of the village of Innbygda which is the municipal centre of Trysil. The village is best known for serving as a hiding place for the Norwegian r ...

five days before his eighteenth birthday. The young left back was an integral part to Haugesund winning the

Norwegian First Division The Norwegian First Division, also called 1. divisjon () and OBOS-ligaen (due to sponsoring ties with :no:OBOS, OBOS), is the second-highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Each year, the top finishing teams in the 1. divisjon ...

that year. After helping Haugesund to promotion to

Tippeligaen 2010 The 2010 Tippeligaen was the 66th completed season of top division association football, football in Norway. The competition began on 14 March and ended on 7 November. Rosenborg BK, Rosenborg was the defending champions, having secured their twent ...

– the first time in ten years – Våge Nilsen continued as a mainstay in the first team, missing just two games and amounting a total of 2520 Tippeligaen minutes, 93% of what he could have played. He scored his first professional goal on 21 March 2010 against

Strømsgodset Strømsgodset is a former municipality in Vestfold county (from 1964 Buskerud county) in Norway which is today a part of the city of Drammen. History Strømsgodset was originally a small rural annex to the city parish of Bragernes (Drammen). ...

, the equaliser in a 2–2 draw. In September, the youngster won the Statoils talent award, an award handed to the best young player in Norwegian football every month. Våge Nilsen signed for Odd for the 2016 season after seven seasons with

. He returned to

for the start of the 2018 season.

Career statistics

References

1991 births Living people People from Bømlo Norwegian men's footballers FK Haugesund players Odds BK players Norwegian First Division players Eliteserien players Bremnes IL players Men's association football defenders Footballers from Vestland 21st-century Norwegian sportsmen {{Norway-footy-defender-stub